Fastener means



June 25, 1963 J. T. BLAKE 3,094,757

FASTENER MEANS Filed iway 24, 1961 INVENTOR John4 T.' Blake BY United States Patent O 3,094,757 FASTENER MEANS John T. Blake, Wolcott, Conn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed May 24, 1961, Ser. No. 112,291 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-265) This invention relates to fastening means for closure tabs or straps of billfolds, keycases and other such exible articles, and is an improvement on the fastener means disclosed in my Patent 2,969,574, issued January 3l, 1961.

The strap ends of the above articles are usually provided with a protective clip to prevent cracking and soiling of the strap material, and also to provide a reinforced area for the attachment of rthe usual fastener member. It has become quite popular of late to provide a fastener with some form of ornamental decorative head which can be attached to the protective clip when the article is purchased. This ornamentation usually consists of =a monogram, initial, fraternal insignia or some decorative design of the buyers choosing that requires a definite orientation in relation to the article to which it is to be attached.

It is an object of this invention to provide a protective strap clip as described above that by itself is capable of being retained to a strap end and to which a decorative fastener member may be subsequently and permanently attached at the time of purchase and have the desired orientation.

Another object is to provide the strap clip with an integral one-way socket that will accept a stud member but will prevent withdrawal of the same.

A further object is to provide the clip with an integral socket that will prevent relative rotation of the stud to the clip to keep the ornamental design oriented with respect to the body of the article to which the strap is attached.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description and accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a billfold in closed position showing the closure strap provided 'with ia protective clip and snap fastener embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2 2 of FIG. l showing the closure strap slightly separated from the upper surface of the billfold;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale showing the terminal end of the closure strap With the protective clip and fastener attached;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the terminal end of the closure strap showing the inner side of the protective clip and stud member attached thereto;

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the protective clip, per se;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the protective clip, per se, with one of the legs in section; and,

FIG. 7 is a perspective View of the terminal end of the closure strap with the protective clip attached thereto and with a stud member aligned with the socket just prior to assembly.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates generally a billfold having upper and lower Walls 1'1 and 12 respectively. Attached to the upper Wall -11 adjacent the end is one element of a two-piece snap fastener member, which in this case, is a resilient socket element 13. The socket 13 is attached by inserting it through a hole in the upper Wall 11 and expanding the socket into a suitable cap 14 thereby firmly gripping the billfold material between the socket ange 15 and the Vcap member 14.

Attached to one end of the lower wall 12 of the bill- Patented June 25, 1963 ICC fold 10 is a closure strap 16 that extends Iaround the end of said billfold and normally overlies the upper wall l11 thereof. The free end of the strap 16 is covered with a rigid one-piece protective clip 17 made of flat sheet material, such as metal, that is fitted about the end of the strap to prevent soiling and cracking of the strap material and to provide a reinforced area for attaching a complemental stud member for the socket 13. The clip 17, preferably of the same width as the strap material, has a long outer liat section 18 that overlies the outer surface of strap 16 and a short inner flat section 19 that underlies the inner surface of said strap, the oulter and inner sections being joined by a fold portion that is adapted to abut the strap end. This abutting relation of lthe strap end with the fold portion will help prevent twisting of the clip relative to the strap when said clip is attached thereto.

An arcuate cut-out 20 in the short inner section l19 of clip 17 produces a pair of spaced extensions 21 that have inwardly sheared spurs 22 adjacent their ends. When the clip is attached to a strap end, the spurs 22 will be embedded in the strap material to firmly anchor the clip to the strap. The cut-out also provides clearance for the stud member that is to be attached to the clip 17 as will be seen.

The outer flat section 18 of clip 17 has an integral onevway socket 23 consisting of an inwardly drifted neck 24 and a plurality of radial slits 25 cut in the flat section 18 and extending through said drifted neck. The slits 25 divide the neck 24 and the surrounding area of the flat section 18 into a series of resilient fingers 26. It should be noted that the segment elements of the neck 24 are art an angle of less .than to the at section 18 for reasons as Will appear later. When the clip 17 is attached to the strap end, the socket 23 will be in axial alignment with a hole 27 which is prepunched in said strap 16.

The complemental snap fastener part for the socket 13 described above is the stud member 28' which has a decorative head 29 and a shank 30. The shank 30 has a diameter somewhat larger than the opening of the socket 23 in the clip 17 and terminates in the usual bulbous shaped stud head 31. When the stud 28 is to be assembled to the clip 17, it is first oriented with respect to the billfold so that the design on the stud head will be properly located with respect to the body of the billfold. The head end 31 of the stud is then pushed through the socket 13 and pierced hole 27 until the underside of the stud head contacts the outer surface of the at section 418 of the clip 17. Even though the stud shank 30 is larger in diameter than the opening in socket 23, the fingers 26 of the socket are resilient enough to cam to one side and allow the shank 30 to pass through. However, due to the fact that the segment elements of the drifted neck are formed at an angle of less than 90 to the fiat section 18', they represent sharp angular edges that afford a lirm grip upon the surface of the stud shank 30. Due to the difference in diameters of the socket opening 23 and the stud shank 30, when the stud is forced into position, the resilient fingers 26 will be forced out of their normal position Iand constantly tension the segment elements of the drifted neck 24 against said stud shank to prevent relative rotation of the stud and clip so the stud is always held in properly oriented position.

Furthermore, due to the spring fingers and the grip afforded by the segment element of the drifted neck 24, any attempt to withdraw the stud member 28 from the clip 17 twill increase the bite of the resilient linger upon the stud shank in the manner of a toggle action to prevent the withdrawal of the stud member 28 from the clip 17.

With the stud 28 firmly attached to the clip 17, the stud head 31 projects beyond the inner surface of the strap 16 in fthe area-of the cut-out 26 of the inner section 19. The cut-out 20iisvalso large enough to allow the flange 15 of the socket 13 to t therein so the overall height of the assembly is kept at a minimum. When the billfold is in closed position, the strap 16 may be Wrapped'around the adjacent end of the-billfold 10 to overlie the upper wall 1'1 and be detachably secured thereto by axially forcing the stud head 31 into the socket 13.

It can thus be seen that I have provided a protective metal clip to which a decorativev fastener may be attached at the time of purchase, and also a clip that is provided with an integral one-Way socket that prevents rotation andwithdrawal of the stud member held therein.

What I claim is:

Fastener means for securing the end of a eXible strap or the like having a piercedvhole therein to an adjacent Wall portion of an article, said fastener means comprising a Erst snap fastener element spaced from the end of the strap adapted to have mating engagement with a second or complemental snap fastener element on said Wall portion, a rigid one-piece protective clip for fitting about the end of the strap, said clip consisting of an outer at section anda shorter inner ilat section joined to each other by a fold portion positioned `against the yend of said strap, the inner at section having a pair of spaced extensions, said extensions having spurs that embed into the strap material embraced between said outer at section and extensions as a holding means, said outer at section having a socket opening therein aligned with said strap opening, said socket opening having an inwardly ydrifted neck and a series-of.radia1 slits in said outer flat section and extending in-to said drifted neck, said rst snap fastener element consisting of a stud member'having References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,225,420 Eggert May 8, 1917 l1,765,053 Carr June 17, 1930 2,191,689 Tinnerman Feb. 27, 194() 2,969,574 Blake Ian. 31, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 121,473 Australia May 20, 1946. 

